what's so bad about Kinston NC?? (Raleigh, Durham: 2015, crime rates, chapel)
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Yes, I am one of those, a native Southern California who has finally reached the saturation point with the traffic, the crowding, the cost of housing, the people who have little concern for anything but what they own, what they used to own or what they plan on owning. Eastern NC seems to be the polar opposite that I am looking for (sorry no mountains for me, nice place to visit would not want to live there). . .
Just wanted to say I understand. We are in Phx, az and are hoping to get to NC soon for the same change of pace and for the same reason (+ just plain tired of sweating ALL THE TIME). I feel a little guilty about moving there but we are looking for a used home, so I'm trying to convince myself that it is ok because we are taking the place of someone moving away and not adding to the number. We are looking in the Greensboro area. Good Luck.
I live here in Kinston and I don't like it, its close to military bases, it has a lot of drugs, gangs, shootings, n robbery. That's why I'm moving to a small town that is 2 hours away from here call Davis.
Kind of funny to have that username then complain about Kinston being close to military, which it really isn't. True, Seymour Johnson AFB is in Goldsboro about 20-30 minutes away and Cherry Point MCAS is about an hour but they don't impact Kinston and aren't stereotypical of military towns in of themselves. Also add to that fact that most servicemen could not safely be in many areas of Kinston.
Though Kinston has seen a number of QOL improvements over the last few years it's downward slide (as can be seen by being one of the few cities in NC to lose population) is largely due to the small town killer of people moving away and never coming back. Leaving behind the scenes ones that never left and add nothing to the city. This has gone on for decades now and nothing has stemmed it. Especially not the Global Transpork. I think Kinston has turned a corner but it still has a long way to go, and even longer way to change reputation /perception once all of the other changes have been made. It can one day have a Durham like transformation on a smaller scale.
Edit: Also in Davis you will have to go into Beaufort and Morehead City where you'll encounter way more service members than you ever did in Kinston.
My sig-other grew up in Kinston and still has family there, who would leave if they didn't own a longtime business there. Mostly due to gangs and crime. They won't even go near the Wal-Mart, even in the daytime (not that Wal-Mart is always representative of the character of a town!). Yes, there are still some areas evocative of the "Mayberry-like town" it was 40 years ago, but with everyone who has the opportuity to do so, moving out, it's hard to keep positives to outweigh the negatives.
This is the situation in many, many Eastern NC towns BTW, not unique to Kinston. The industries that built them and thrived up through the 1970s are gone, with not much to replace them.
The place sucks. Straight to the point. Barely anywhere to shop, lots of foolish ignorant people around here. Its a really trashy town that comes with no class. Mind you, I own a home in HiltonHead, South Carolina but came to Kinston to be closer to my family. Big Mistake, there is hardly anything here. I have to travel to Wilson, Greenville just to go shopping and Greenville to get to a Good Doctor. The Hospital here is disgusting, a few doctors here are complete idiots. Me, personally I like Greenville to an extent of course I am a city girl, who was raised in the country.. go figure. Greenville has alot of places to get around too including excellent care when sick but on the other hand the people and foolishness there are no better than kinston or wilson. If you like not having nothing around, and being in a dirty empty down full of violence ( which is everywhere ) then this place is for you. Im looking for something far out of Kinston atleast until I go back home to SC.
My sig-other grew up in Kinston and still has family there, who would leave if they didn't own a longtime business there. Mostly due to gangs and crime. They won't even go near the Wal-Mart, even in the daytime (not that Wal-Mart is always representative of the character of a town!). Yes, there are still some areas evocative of the "Mayberry-like town" it was 40 years ago, but with everyone who has the opportuity to do so, moving out, it's hard to keep positives to outweigh the negatives.
This is the situation in many, many Eastern NC towns BTW, not unique to Kinston. The industries that built them and thrived up through the 1970s are gone, with not much to replace them.
Very true, unfortunately. The university and hospital/medical school is what saved Greenville from sharing the same fate.
My sig-other grew up in Kinston and still has family there, who would leave if they didn't own a longtime business there. Mostly due to gangs and crime. They won't even go near the Wal-Mart, even in the daytime (not that Wal-Mart is always representative of the character of a town!). Yes, there are still some areas evocative of the "Mayberry-like town" it was 40 years ago, but with everyone who has the opportuity to do so, moving out, it's hard to keep positives to outweigh the negatives.
This is the situation in many, many Eastern NC towns BTW, not unique to Kinston. The industries that built them and thrived up through the 1970s are gone, with not much to replace them.
While I agree that Kinston is a run-down, boring town, I would say that being afraid to go to the Wal-Mart due to crime is an extreme exaggeration. It's just about the only place worth going to for shopping in the town and I've never gone there and felt unsafe. Just desolate and boring. I don't think I've ever met anyone in the city who told me they were afraid to go to the Walmart. I grew up there.
My take on the place these days is that it doesn't offer anything to attract young professionals nor maintain the ones who grow up there. There are almost no amenities for younger people. Once the industries went overseas in the 80s/90s, the city leaders tried to market Kinston as a place for seniors to retire to. Foolish idea because that's not the demographic that brings and stimulates growth in a city. Just about everyone I know who grew up there who was worth anything left the place as soon as they could and will never move back. It's pretty interesting how the fates of these Eastern NC towns played out once the jobs left. Jacksonville has the Marine base, Goldsboro the Air Force base, Greenville ECU, Wilson strong infrastructure and proximity to I-95, Kinston nothing. Amazing the stark contrast considering all of these cities were about the same size in 1980.
The Global Transpark experiment that they've been working on there still has yet to really take off. For one Kinston lacks the educated, skilled workforce that companies are looking for and they also have the poorest transportation infrastructure of those inner coastal medium-sized NC towns. Then in turn due to the low average income of the area, many businesses choose not to set up shop there.
So if you're looking for a place to retire to, Kinston (the outskirts of it rather than the city proper), might be for you. Otherwise I would stay away.
I think their best hope at this point is that 15-30 years from now Greenville may become large enough to where Kinston becomes an attractive bedroom community of Greenville.
Kinston is just plain flat out country. But Do Not get me wrong there are alot of blue-collar/manufacturing jobs in the area such as Smithfield Foods, Sanderson Farms, West pharmaceuticals, & all of the above
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